Okla-homey
2/6/2006, 06:51 AM
February 6, 1778 Franco-American alliances signed
During the American Revolution, representatives from the United States and France sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris on this day in 1778.
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the United States as an independent nation and encouraged trade between France and America. The Treaty of Alliance provided for a military alliance against Great Britain, stipulating that the absolute independence of the United States be recognized as a condition for peace and that France would be permitted to conquer the British West Indies.
With the treaties, the first entered into by the U.S. government, the Bourbon monarchy of France formalized its commitment to assist the American colonies in their struggle against France's longtime rival, Great Britain. The eagerness of the French to help the United States was motivated by their bitterness at having lost most of their American empire to the British at the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763.
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3857/benfranklin25sw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Benjamin Franklin, principal architect of the Franco-American alliance.
In 1776, the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee to a diplomatic commission to secure a formal alliance with France. A small amount of secret French aid had begun filtering into the colonies soon after the outbreak of hostilities in 1775.
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/1834/bensaratoga51ud.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
One area of aid provided was the sale of French musketry. Here we see a re-enactment of the battle of Saratoga. The guy on horseback is protraying the victorious American Major General Horatio Gates
It was not until the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 that the French became convinced that the Americans had a chance of winning and that it was therefore probably worth backing them in a formal treaty in order to gain important advantages in North America and to help deny Britain its most prosperous colonial holdings.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/6323/bensara28gh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
They still re-enact Saratoga each fall. Here are the "bad guys"
As seen above, on this day 228 years ago in 1778, the Treaties of Amity and Commerce and Alliance were signed, and in May 1778 the Continental Congress ratified them. One month later, war between Britain and France formally began when a British squadron fired on two French ships.
French naval fleets proved critical in the defeat of the British, which was assured after the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781 when they helped bottle-up Cornwallis and the principal British army in America as Washington laid siege preventing their retreat on land.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9319/yorktown804fq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The American freedom-winning win at Yorktown. The French troops are drawn up on the left under the white Bourbon banner, the Continentals on the right. American Major General Ben Lincoln is seen here accepting the surrender from British Major General O'Hara. See, Corny was too bummed to show up for his own surrender ceremony, and protocol prevented Washington from accepting the surrender from a lesser British officer -- which is why Lincoln in in the center here, and Washington is on the right.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1206/insane7zo2es.jpg
During the American Revolution, representatives from the United States and France sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris on this day in 1778.
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the United States as an independent nation and encouraged trade between France and America. The Treaty of Alliance provided for a military alliance against Great Britain, stipulating that the absolute independence of the United States be recognized as a condition for peace and that France would be permitted to conquer the British West Indies.
With the treaties, the first entered into by the U.S. government, the Bourbon monarchy of France formalized its commitment to assist the American colonies in their struggle against France's longtime rival, Great Britain. The eagerness of the French to help the United States was motivated by their bitterness at having lost most of their American empire to the British at the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763.
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3857/benfranklin25sw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Benjamin Franklin, principal architect of the Franco-American alliance.
In 1776, the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee to a diplomatic commission to secure a formal alliance with France. A small amount of secret French aid had begun filtering into the colonies soon after the outbreak of hostilities in 1775.
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/1834/bensaratoga51ud.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
One area of aid provided was the sale of French musketry. Here we see a re-enactment of the battle of Saratoga. The guy on horseback is protraying the victorious American Major General Horatio Gates
It was not until the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 that the French became convinced that the Americans had a chance of winning and that it was therefore probably worth backing them in a formal treaty in order to gain important advantages in North America and to help deny Britain its most prosperous colonial holdings.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/6323/bensara28gh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
They still re-enact Saratoga each fall. Here are the "bad guys"
As seen above, on this day 228 years ago in 1778, the Treaties of Amity and Commerce and Alliance were signed, and in May 1778 the Continental Congress ratified them. One month later, war between Britain and France formally began when a British squadron fired on two French ships.
French naval fleets proved critical in the defeat of the British, which was assured after the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781 when they helped bottle-up Cornwallis and the principal British army in America as Washington laid siege preventing their retreat on land.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9319/yorktown804fq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The American freedom-winning win at Yorktown. The French troops are drawn up on the left under the white Bourbon banner, the Continentals on the right. American Major General Ben Lincoln is seen here accepting the surrender from British Major General O'Hara. See, Corny was too bummed to show up for his own surrender ceremony, and protocol prevented Washington from accepting the surrender from a lesser British officer -- which is why Lincoln in in the center here, and Washington is on the right.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1206/insane7zo2es.jpg